5322.03
Enforcement of owner's lien.

An owner's lien created
by division (A) of section
5322.02 of the Revised Code for a
claim that has become due may be enforced only as follows:

(A)The
following persons shall be notified
in accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of this section:

(1) All persons
whom the owner has actual knowledge of and who claim an interest in the
personal property;

(2) All persons
holding liens on any motor vehicle or watercraft amongst the
property;

(3) All persons
who have filed security agreements in the name of the occupant evidencing a
security interest in the personal property with either the secretary of state
or the county recorder of the county in which the self-service storage facility
is located or the Ohio county of the last known address of the
occupant.

(B)
The notice shall be delivered in person , sent by
certified mail, or sent by first-class mail with a
certificate of mailing to the last known address of each person who is
required to be notified by division (A) of this section;

(1) The
name and last known address of the occupant who rented the storage space in
which the personal property was stored;

(2) An
itemized statement of the owner's claim showing the sum due at the time of the
notice and the date when the sum became due;

(3) A
brief and general description of the personal property subject to the lien. The
description shall be reasonably adequate to permit the person notified to
identify it except that any container including, but not limited to, a trunk,
valise, or box that is locked, fastened, sealed, or tied in a manner that
deters immediate access to its contents and that has not been opened by the
owner prior to the date on which the notice is given may be described as such
without describing its contents.

(4) A
notice of denial of access to the personal property, if a denial of access is
permitted under the terms of the rental agreement, which notice provides the
name, street address, and telephone number of the person whom the person
notified may contact to pay the claim and to either obtain the personal
property or enter into a rental agreement for the storage of the personal
property;

(5) A demand for
payment within a specified time not less than ten days after delivery of the
notice;

(6) A
conspicuous statement that unless the claim is paid within that time the
personal property will be advertised for sale and will be sold by auction at a
specified time and place and that, if no person purchases the personal property
at the auction, the personal property may be sold at a private sale or
destroyed;

(7) The address
of the place at which the sale will be held, if the sale will be held at a
place other than the self-service storage facility in which the personal
property was stored.

(D)Any notice given pursuant to this section shall be
presumed delivered, if the notice is sent by first-class mail with a
certificate of mailing, when it is deposited with the United States postal
service and properly addressed with proper postage prepaid.

(E) The sale of the personal
property shall conform to the terms of the notice as provided for in this
section.

(F) The sale of the personal property
shall be held at the self-service storage facility or, if the address of the
place was included in the notice as required by division (C)(7) of this
section, at the nearest suitable place to the self-service storage facility at
which the personal property is stored.

(G) After the expiration of the time
given in the notice, an advertisement of the sale shall be published once a
week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county in which the self-service storage facility is located
or any other commercially reasonable manner. The manner
of advertisement shall be deemed commercially reasonable if at least three
independent bidders attend the sale at the time and place advertised. The
advertisement shall include all of the following:

(1) A
brief and general description of the personal property as required by division
(C)(3) of this section, except that the description shall describe the contents
of any trunk, valise, or box that is locked, fastened, sealed, or tied in a
manner that deters immediate access to its contents, if the trunk, valise, or
box is opened by the owner prior to the date on which the advertisement of sale
is published;

(2) The name and
last known address of the occupant who rented the storage space in which the
personal property was stored;

(1)Any person who has a
a security interest in
, or who holds a lien against, a motor vehicle or
watercraft may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien
created by division (A) of section
5322.02 of the Revised Code
and the reasonable expenses incurred under this section.
That
person , upon
payment of the amount necessary to satisfy the lien plus expenses,
may enter into a new rental agreement for the
storage of the motor vehicle or watercraft. Any person
who presents proof of a security interest in or lien on a motor vehicle or
watercraft or a court order authorizing the person to
take possession of a motor vehicle or watercraft may
immediately remove the motor vehicle or watercraft
from the self-service storage facility without
satisfying the lien or expenses of the owner.

(2) Before
any sale of personal property other than a motor vehicle or watercraft pursuant
to this section, any person who has a legal interest or a security interest in,
or who holds a lien against, any personal property other than a motor vehicle
or watercraft may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien created by
division (A) of section
5322.02 of the Revised Code and
the reasonable expenses incurred under this section and remove the personal
property in which the person has the interest or against which the person holds
the lien. After removal of all the personal property, including any motor
vehicle or watercraft, from the storage space of the self-service storage
facility by any means under this section, any person can enter into a rental
agreement for the storage of personal property with the owner, and the owner
has no obligation to the prior occupant of that storage space in the
self-service storage facility. Before entering into a new rental agreement, the
owner must have any motor vehicle or watercraft towed from that storage
space.

(3) Upon receipt of
the payment from a person other than the occupant, the owner shall enter into a
new rental agreement for the storage of the personal property or, if the person
meets the conditions set forth in division (H)(2) of
this section, shall permit the person to remove the personal property from the
self-service storage facility.

(4) If the occupant pays the amount
necessary to satisfy the lien created by division (A)
of section
5322.02 of the Revised Code
and the reasonable expenses incurred under this section,
the
occupant shall immediately remove all of the occupant's
personal property from the self-service storage facility, unless the owner of
the self-service storage facility agrees to enter
into a new rental agreement for the storage of the property.

(1) If
property on which there is a lien under division (A) of section
5322.02 of the Revised Code is not
sold at auction, but is claimed under division (H) of this section and the
owner's lien is satisfied, then all legal or security interest in, or any other
liens held against, the property shall remain intact.

(2) A purchaser
at auction in good faith, except an owner or
an
owner's agent, of the personal property sold to satisfy an owner's lien
created by division (A) of section
5322.02 of the Revised Code takes
the property free and clear of any rights of
persons against whom the lien was valid, or any persons
who had an interest in, or who held, any other lien against the property,
despite noncompliance by the owner with the requirements of this section.

(J) The owner may examine any personal
property to be sold pursuant to this section. The examination may include, but
is not limited to, the opening of any trunk, valise, box, or other container
that is locked, fastened, sealed, tied, or otherwise closed in a manner that
deters immediate access to its contents.

(1) If the
property upon which the lien created under division (A) of this section is
claimed is a motor vehicle or a watercraft, the owner shall have the motor
vehicle or watercraft towed from the premises if any of the following
circumstances applies:

(a) The notice was delivered or sent pursuant to division
(B) of this section to all persons holding a lien on the motor vehicle or
watercraft, and thirty days have elapsed since the notice was delivered or sent
without a response from any of those persons.

(b) Rent
and other charges related to the property remain unpaid or unsatisfied by the
occupant for sixty days, and no lien holders have been identified.

(c) The
owner is planning to hold a sale at auction of the personal property that was
stored in the self-service storage unit with that motor vehicle or watercraft,
in which case the motor vehicle or watercraft shall be towed prior to the
auction.

(2) The
owner shall not be liable for the motor vehicle or watercraft or any damages to
the motor vehicle or watercraft once the tower takes possession of the
property. The notice delivered or sent pursuant to division (B) of this section
to all persons holding a lien on the motor vehicle or watercraft shall include
the name of the towing company. The name and the address of the towing company
shall also be made available to the occupant or any lien holder upon the
presentation of a document of title or another document that confirms an
interest in the motor vehicle or watercraft.

(L) The owner may satisfy
the
owner's lien from the proceeds of any sale held pursuant to this section,
but shall mail the balance, if any, by certified mail to the occupant at
the
occupant's last known address. If the balance is returned to the owner
after the owner mailed the balance by certified mail to the occupant or if the
address of the occupant is not known, the owner shall hold the balance for two
years after the date of the sale for delivery on demand to the occupant or to
any other person who would have been entitled to possession of the personal
property. After the expiration of the two-year period, the balance shall become
unclaimed funds, as defined in division (B) of section
169.01 of the Revised Code, and
shall be disposed of pursuant to Chapter 169. of the Revised Code.

(M) An owner may buy at any public sale
held pursuant to this section.

(N) The rights provided by this section
shall be in addition to all other rights allowed by law to a creditor against
a
debtor.

(1) If
the owner complies with the requirements for sale under this section, the
owner's liability to persons who have an interest in the personal property sold
is limited to the balance of the proceeds of the sale after the owner has
satisfied the
owner's lien.

(2) The owner is liable for damages caused by the
failure to comply with the requirements for sale under this section and is
liable for conversion for willful violation of the requirements for sale under
this section.

(P) If no person purchases the personal
property at the auction and if the owner has complied with this section, the
owner may do any of the following:

(1)
Advertise and sell the personal property pursuant to divisions
(F) to
(O) of
this section;